


Nail Painting

by Pokestine



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Light-Hearted, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 01:42:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13136505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokestine/pseuds/Pokestine
Summary: A quiet moment early on in the partnership between Junkrat and Roadhog.





	Nail Painting

It was getting dark so Roadhog had called it a day and pulled over at the first likely place for them to set up for the night. They were camping this night in what looked like an old road side rest spot before the whole area had turned nuclear. Now it was just another old dilapidated building. Useful for a pair of Junkers looking for a roof to have over their heads for the night.

 

Roadhog sat down next to the fire across from Junkrat who was tinkering with something and muttering. Roadhog decided to ignore him, he was sick of listening to it all day. This was their first chance for a break in a while and it looked like they'd be staying here for at least the night. That was plenty of time for Roadhog to fix his nails. He'd noticed they were starting to get rather chipped and he hadn't had a chance to strip the nail polish and apply a new coat.

 

Pulling out his supplies, Roadhog checked how much he had. He still had plenty of polish but he'd probably need to pick up more acetone soon. Thankfully acetone had enough uses that it wasn't too hard for Roadhog to find and a little bit usually lasted a long time, not as long as the polish of his Roadhog had been using the same bottle for years, but long enough. He got to work stripping the old polish before applying the new.

 

Roadhog wiped his nails with a rag to remove any remaining acetone and started to apply the polish. He was half way through the first coat on one hand when he noticed how quiet it had gotten. He'd just tuned out Junkrat's ongoing prattle that he hadn't noticed it until it stopped. He calmly finished the hand and capped the bottle before checking what had caused Junkrat to actually shut up. He didn't have to look far, at some point Junkrat had come around to his side of the fire and was now sitting right next to him. Junkrat was staring intently at Roadhog, or more precisely, his hands.

 

That's right, Roadhog remembered, Junkrat was young enough that he probably didn't have many memories from before the omnium blew up. Chances were he'd never seen someone paint their nails before. The idiot probably thought Roadhog just had black nails naturally or something.

 

"What are you doing there, Roadie?" Junkrat had clearly waited until Roadhog stopped to ask the question, or maybe he had just been that distracted by the nail painting.

 

Roadhog didn't respond but he did angle his hands so that Junkrat had a clear view as Roadhog did the other hand. He carefully screwed the lid back on to the nail polish and spread his fingers out to wait for the first coat to dry. Junkrat grabbed the bottle of nail polish and started to inspect it. Roadhog kept an eye on him but let Junkrat be for the moment, even if he did manage to spill it or something, it was just nail polish. It wouldn't be that hard for Roadhog to get more although he'd have to do it soon if Junkrat did manage to spill it all, because just one layer meant his new polish would chip quickly.

 

Junkrat unscrewed the cap of the nail polish, handling it just as carefully as Roadhog had, he was usually pretty quick at learning from example when he felt like it. He leant forward and sniffed at it. Jerking back quickly from the sharp smell he nearly dropped the small bottle but kept a hold of it at the last minute. Junkrat settled again and drew the brush from the bottle. Slowly he tried to apply it to one of his own nails. It was messy, he clearly had no idea how to apply the polish and certainly didn't have anything close to the practiced and smooth application that Roadhog did. Junkrat had managed to get more nail polish on his finger than on the nail and he'd done it too slowly so the brush strokes were clearly visible. Junkrat inspected the results and held his hand out to compare it to Roadhog's nails. The contrast was obvious.

 

"You do it." Junkrat shoved the nail polish at Roadhog and held out his hand with a single nail painted.

Roadhog sighed, his own nails should be dry enough that he could do Junkrat's without worrying about smudging.

"Fine," he took the polish from Junkrat and grabbed his hand, "hold still."

 

He didn't trust Junkrat to not move mid application so he held Junkrat's hand firming in place. Roadhog painted Junkrat's nails as quickly as he'd done his own. The angle was a little different but this was how Roadhog had first learnt to do nails, even if he hadn't done it in a long time, it wasn't something you forgot how to do. As soon as Roadhog had finished Junkrat snatched his hand away and stared at his nails. Roadhog decided to ignore him and finish his own nails. The polish had dried enough that he could do the second coat now.

 

As soon as Junkrat realised Roadhog hadn't finished he was back to staring at Roadhog's hands. "Why're you doing it again?"

"Lasts longer."

"Oh." Junkrat held his own hand out, "mine next?"

"Wait."

"Right right." Junkrat settled down and just stared at Rodhog.

 

Roadhog shifted slightly but went back to his nails. He wasn't sure how he felt about this, it was the quietest he'd ever seen Junkrat outside of when he was sleeping and even then he made a surprising amount of noise sometimes. Roadhog didn't want to say it was peaceful per se but it was nice - almost. Normally he just tuned the other Junker out, pretended he wasn't there so he didn't strangle the idiot or hook him over a cliff. Like this though, Roadhog thought he might even like his over active partner.

 

Roadhog finished his own hands and held them out near the fire to dry for a moment. Junkrat didn't say anything, still enraptured by the entire process. Roadhog was tempted to see how long the silence would last if he just did nothing but wasn't quite willing to risk loosing the silence if Junkrat got bored. He waited another minute to be sure his own nails were dry enough as well as Junkrat's. He reached out and snagged Junkrat's hand which he had been holding out carefully and glancing at every few seconds. Roadhog applied the second coat as quickly as he had the first. He was even able to smooth out the mess that was the first nail that Junkrat had tried to paint himself. Junkrat actually held still this time, no twitching at all. It must have taken an impressive amount of effort, moments of stillness were even rarer than moments of silence for Junkrat.

 

Their nails finished all they had to do was wait for them to dry completely, experience told Roadhog that it could take a good hour if he wanted to keep the nails smooth. He doubted Junkrat would make it that long though. Roadhog carefully screwed the lid back on the nail polish and got up to stowe it back in his bags still attached to the bike, while he was there he checked that everything was still packed properly and also to see if they were runny low on any supplies. He was careful not to scuff his nails in the process. They were mostly good but running low on food, they'd have to pick some more up in the next few days.

 

Self appointed task over Roadhog turned back to the fire. He stopped and just looked at Junkrat for a moment. Junkrat was sitting where Roadhog had left him, his hand held in front of him. He was turning it slowing form side to side and watching the light of the fire reflect off his newly painted nails. Roadhog had a feeling in his chest, a sort of warmth. It wasn't happiness but he felt - content. This was nice. Roadhog hadn't expected that. He hadn't felt anything like this in a very long time and now to feel it because of Junkrat. It was - Roadhog didn't know what it was but he realised that just perhaps he had made the right choice in partnering up with Junkrat after all.


End file.
